Caramel Milk Tea

Caramel milk tea is a popular drink all around the world. It’s such an easy drink that you can make at home.

What’s more, you can make this caramel milk tea hot or cold. This means you can enjoy it any time of the year!

This recipe for caramel milk tea can be made with or without boba (tapioca pearls).

When served with tapioca pearls, caramel milk tea is also known as caramel bubble tea or caramel boba.

A bit about caramel sauce

For this recipe for caramel milk tea, there are two different methods you can use to have caramel for your drink.

The first is using premade caramel sauce or syrup. This is the simplest option.

Depending on your caramel sauce, you may need to adjust the taste of the drink and sweetness according to taste.

The second method is to make your own caramel sauce. This is done by cooking caster sugar on the stovetop.

A bit about boba pearls (tapioca pearls)

Boba pearls, also known as tapioca pearls, are small, soft, and chewy balls often used in drinks such as boba tea or bubble tea.

Boba pearls come in many different sizes, and sometimes even come filled with a liquid (popping boba pearls).

Boba pearls are primarily made of tapioca. Extracted from the cassava root (yuca), tapioca is a starch.

For this recipe, it is best to use quick cooking tapioca pearls. This is because they are easy to make and take little time.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

• This caramel milk tea is easy to make.
• It’s a quick recipe, especially if you use premade caramel sauce.
• Milk tea flavored with caramel is a refreshing drink that can be made into a bubble tea if you use boba (tapioca) pearls.
• There are only five ingredients used in this recipe. Most of which you may already have in your pantry.
• It’s versatile and can be adjusted to suit your diet.
• Can be served hot or cold.

Ingredients

Please note that below is a guide for some of the ingredients we used in the recipe. The printable recipe further down the page has the complete list of ingredients, including quantities and step-by-step instructions.

• Water
• Black tea tea bags or loose leaf black tea: Examples of black tea you could use include Assam, English breakfast, and Earl Grey.
• Caramel Sauce or Caster Sugar: If you are making your own caramel sauce, use caster sugar. Otherwise, you can just use storebought caramel sauce.
• Milk of choice
• Quick cooking tapioca (boba) pearls

Instructions

This recipe for caramel milk tea recipe serves 2. The ingredients can easily be adapted to suit how many serves you need to make.

Brew the Tea

Step One: Bring the water to a boil in a kettle and then turn off heat. Pour water into a cup or teapot and place teabags. Allow tea to brew to your liking (at least 3 minutes).

Step Two: Remove the teabags from the water once the tea is brewed and set the tea aside until you are ready to assemble the caramel milk tea.

You can store the tea in the fridge to chill it if you want.

Making the Caramel Sauce

Method One: Using premade caramel sauce

Step One: If you are using premade caramel sauce, just measure the amount of caramel sauce you need (¼ cup).

Method Two: Making your own caramel sauce

Step One: In a saucepan, place the caster sugar over medium heat. Allow the sugar to melt, stirring occasionally. Be very careful if you are making your own caramel sauce. You could easily burn yourself on the sugar mixture as it will be very hot. If you find your sugar is bubbling too much, reduce the heat.

Step Two: Once the sugar has become darker in colour, add the room temperature milk. Stir the milk through the sugar and cook for a further 1 to 2 minutes. Turn off heat and set aside.

Making the Tapioca Pearls

Step One: Cook your tapioca pearls according to packet instructions. Alternatively, if you are using quick cooking tapioca (boba) pearls you could:

1. Bring about 1 ½ cups of water to the boil in a small or medium saucepan. Once boiled, add the quick cooking tapioca pearls and reduce the heat to low to medium to bring the water to a simmer.
2. Allow the tapioca to cook, stirring occasionally. You will known when they are ready when they float to the top and are soft. Depending on your tapioca pearls, they could take 3 to 4 minutes to cook.
3. Once soft and floating, turn off the heat and strain the water from the tapioca pearls. Rinse the tapioca pearls under cold water.

If you are not ready to assemble your caramel milk tea, submerge your tapioca pearls in cold or room temperature water. When ready to assemble, drain the water completely.

Assembling The Caramel Milk Tea

Step One: In a serving glass, add half of the tapioca pearls, caramel syrup and milk. Then add half of the brewed tea. Stir to combine.

Step Two: Repeat step one of assembling the caramel milk tea for the remaining ingredients. Serve

Cost To Make

Estimated cost = $1.11 for 2 serves or $0.55 per serve.

Substitutions / Variations

Instead of boba pearls (tapioca pearls) you could add:

• Jelly
• Popping boba pearls
• Egg pudding
• Lycheee

If you want to make a salted caramel milk tea you could add a pinch of salt to your caramel sauce, or if you are making the caramel sauce, add a pinch of salt when you add the sugar to the saucepan.

For a vanilla caramel milk tea, you could add a bit of vanilla extract or vanilla essence when you are assembling your drink.

Storage

This caramel milk tea is best served on the day it is made. If you have any leftover caramel milk tea, strain the tapioca pearls and discard them.

Store the liquid in a bottle or jar in the fridge for 1 to 2 days. When you want to drink your tea later, make some tapioca pearls.

FAQ

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